I’ve spent the better part of the morning flat on my back. My thoughts are elsewhere, tucked away inside my jewellery box.
An enormous wave rears up and charges towards me. I stand my ground, raising my hands above my head. The ice numbs my fingertips as it shoots into the air, forming a shield around me. A split second later, Queen Hydra’s wave slams down on to the frozen barrier with such force that it causes the ice to hiss and crack – but it doesn’t break. I watch the water fall to the floor, frothing around my legs.
‘Good.’
The ice shield melts and I’m left standing face-to-face with the queen. She waves a hand and at once the water in the room drains away to nothing.
‘Take a seat, child.’ Queen Hydra pours a cup of steaming tea from the silver pot on the table, stirs in a heaped spoonful of honey and pushes it towards me. ‘You seem distracted. Something on your mind?’
Yes, I’ve lost it.
‘No, Your Majesty.’
‘Very well.’ The queen looks unconvinced. ‘Now, there is something else I wish to show you. Something that few Aquatori have ever learned, and even fewer have mastered.’
I sit up a little straighter in my chair, intrigued. ‘Tell me.’
‘Why don’t you drink your tea, and then I will do more than tell you. I will show you.’
I do as she says, scalding my tongue in the process. When I’m finished, Queen Hydra glances down at the table between us. Moments later it’s covered by a thin layer of water. She takes a finger and runs it over the surface, drawing a perfect circle no bigger than my head. If I’d blinked, I’d have missed it. For no sooner is the ring drawn, does the section of table it encircles melt away, leaving a small bottomless pool in its place.
I stare at it, then up at the queen. ‘What does it do?’
She makes no reply, but rather reaches out and picks up my teacup. Then she rises from her chair and walks to the end of the table, where she proceeds to draw another circle. I dip my hand in the one in front of me and discover that it seems to extend on and on. I watch, bemused, as the queen holds the teacup out over the second pool, closes her eyes and drops it. The water ripples slightly before smoothing over once more.
‘How –’ I begin, but my words are cut off by the cup’s reappearance. Only not in the pool in which it disappeared, but in the one in front of me. I see it – a flash of silver beneath the surface. Glancing uncertainly at Queen Hydra for confirmation, I lower my hand into the water, grasp the handle of the cup and pull it out of the pool.
‘Water portals,’ she says quietly. With a twitch of her hand the pool recedes into the centre of the circle until only the golden surface of the table remains.
‘Portals?’ I repeat, as she returns to her chair.
She nods. ‘Think of them as gateways, aswaterways– a means of travelling that involves no horses or carriages.The Ventalla, too, have a similar method, a practice known as flitting, which allows them to travel through the air at great speed, disappearing in one location and reappearing somewhere else entirely. King Balen is an accomplished flitter.’
I think about possessing the power to go anywhere in mere seconds.Anywhere.
‘Teach me,’ I say quickly. Then add, ‘Please, Your Majesty.’
Queen Hydra smiles. ‘Mastering a skill such as this can take time. But I believe you have what it takes to learn.’
‘You do?’
‘I do. But I warn you, child, water portals carry their own risks. Very real, very dangerous risks. Therefore I ask that you treat them with caution.’
The queen offers me a plate of little cakes and I take one.
‘What are the risks?’
‘Well, to start with, one must know exactly where it is one wishes to go before stepping into the portal. If for some reason there is any confusion surrounding the destination, the subject may not reach it.’
‘What – so they getstuck?’ I say, horrified.
‘The portal may transport them to a different destination, or yes, it is entirely likely that they could end up stuck – in limbo, so to speak.’
‘And what happens then? How do they get out?’
Queen Hydra leans forward, her signet ring gleaming in the afternoon sunlight, engraved with her emblem – the swordfish. ‘Either they somehow find a way back to the source portal, or they manage to remain calm enough to refocus their destination.’
‘And if they can’t?’ I ask, already knowing the answer.
